


Almost Before It's Begun

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Juris Imprudence [35]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/F, M/M, lawyer AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 09:37:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8707225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Any, any, their story ends almost before it begins."Radek watches Lorne and Bucky during a paralegal trial prep party and hedges his bets.





	

All of the paralegals had both been dreading and anticipating this night for months. The quarterly trial prep party. So many of the lawyers had trials, including the ones who usually didn’t have trials, like Ronon and Parrish and Cadman and Jonas. So it was all hands on deck, no matter who anyone’s primary attorney was. Lorne had been planning the party for at least a month, and Radek knew that Nathan had made side trips on his runs out of the office to pick up supplies for said party. Between Lorne and Nathan, it was going to be the biggest party yet. So big that the night before the party, Lorne sent out an email to all the support staff, inviting them along, and telling them it was anything goes. All day Saturday, into Sunday morning if necessary. Completely dress casual.

Radek couldn’t believe it. Lorne never dressed completely casually, not even on casual Fridays. The most casual Lorne ever got was foregoing a tie once in a blue moon. Stackhouse and Markham, who were both former soldiers, said it was a uniform thing. Lorne had mustered out as a major, which meant he’d spent the majority of his adult life wearing a uniform.

But when Radek arrived at the office at six on Saturday morning, wearing his _one lab accident away from being a super-villian_ t-shirt, Lorne was there, wearing jeans and a button-down shirt over an old, faded USAF t-shirt. Bucky was by his side, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and helping Lorne and Nathan - Nathan wearing khakis and a t-shirt - while the two of them made pancakes.

Which smelled delicious.

The other paralegals trickled in, one by one, and formed an obedient queue at the break room door. In addition to pancakes, there was a griddle with sausages and bacon, at least seven kinds of syrup, butter, several flavors of marmalade, whipped cream, and fresh fruit toppings.

Radek scooped up a paper plate and some plastic cutlery and jumped into line.

“For the record,” Lorne said, “this is the only cooking I’m doing today. Lunch and dinner and midnight snacks are all going to be ordered in.”

But the stack of pancakes he levered onto Radek’s plate was so mouthwateringly good that Radek would do anything for him. Even go into battle for him.

Nathan and Bucky had arranged for the break-time activities. Usually they danced and drank, but that was in the evenings. This was an all-day affair, and they couldn’t start drinking this early, not if they wanted to get done all they needed to. Nathan and Bucky had set up a projector, a massive screen, and several gaming consoles. On breaks, people could challenge each other at video games. There were fight games, like Tekken and Soul Caliber, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. There were music games, like RockBand and Guitar Hero. And there were farming games, like Harvest Moon and Rune Factory.

Throughout the day, somehow the most popular game ended up being Rune Factory, as various people took over the farm and tried to sabotage other people’s attempts at wooing the different NPCs. Radek had been making pretty good headway with the goth girl in the tower and had almost built up enough hearts with her to buy her a ring when it was Nathan’s turn.

Nathan was fiercely competitive, had laser focus, and a type-A personality Radek associated more with lawyers than with paralegals. Radek could see how he was related to O’Neill. Both of them projected an air of laziness and obliviousness, barely motivated to do anything, but both of them knew what was going on and got things done, sliding in and out of situations with a stealth matched only by Lorne’s.

All the other paralegals had been taking bets as to how long it would take Lorne to figure out that the associates had a betting pool as to whether or not Lorne was a robot. Radek had won the day Lorne had his epic meltdown in the middle of the Biggest Discovery SNAFU in WOW History, but he’d at least waited till Lorne and Bucky were out of the office before he collected his winnings.

O’Neill gave them an entire week off, during which Nathan assumed both of their duties with startling aplomb. There had been something in Nathan’s eyes, though, as he sat at Lorne’s desk and Bucky’s desk and arranged a rotation of snack and coffee delivery among all the paralegals, that Radek had been wary of. Something that was bleak and angry all at once. So Radek had stayed out of his way.

The other paralegals had started taking bets about whether or not Bucky and Lorne had hooked up during their week off. It was obvious to just about anyone with eyes (not including attorneys) that Lorne was sweet on Bucky, in an old-fashioned, carry-your-books wear-my-class-ring kind of way, always helping him out and checking on him - and being the only person who could help him during his PTSD panic attack that one time.

Everyone had watched Bucky and Lorne like hawks for any hint of who would win the betting pool as soon as they were back, but they were completely professional. Friendly, because WOW was a friendly place, but professional.

But today was no holds barred. Paralegal Trial Prep Parties were Anything Goes, which was why last time Vega and Mehra were doing body shots on the drinks desk and Radek had felt free to make out with Lam for a little bit. So if there was anything between Bucky and Lorne, today was the day to find out.

Radek was helping Nathan organize the annual birthday calendar and keeping an eye on Bucky and Lorne while he worked. Every year Lorne bought a page-a-day calendar of puppies (a different breed every year) and clipped to the appropriate pages were birthday cards for the firm’s top clients (either top-grossing or long-term), and as soon as the new calendars became available for sale, they started on the next year. In addition to the annual client birthday calendar, there was the staff birthday calendar (current and honorably discharged), and the annual Holiday Card distribution system.

“Why so many cards?” Nathan grumbled.

“Because we want people to know we remember them, so they remember us,” Radek recited.

Nathan shot him a look. “Lorne teach you that?”

“Lorne taught me that.” Radek glanced over to where Lorne and Bucky were compiling trial binders for Teldy’s bankruptcy trial.

Nathan followed Radek’s gaze. “Why do you keep staring at them? You have a crush or something?”

“I have money riding on them,” Radek said.

Nathan never participated in the bets, but he seemed to know all the action in the office. “And?”

“And I think they’re together.”

Nathan’s expression was unreadable. “What makes you say that?”

Radek gestured with his chin.

Bucky was wielding a mouse one-handed, bates-stamping exhibits while Lorne made exhibit binder tabs. Both of them were at their desks, side-by-side. Bucky had a question, and Lorne paused in his work, leaned over to peer at his computer. His hand lingered on Bucky’s shoulder, nothing unprofessional, but Radek saw it, the gentle swipe of his thumb in a reassuring caress before he went back to his own task.

Lunch was sandwiches ordered from a gourmet deli nearby, delivered by a trio of sullen-faced teenagers who perked up quite a bit when Lorne gave them a generous tip. He, Bucky, and Nathan arranged for the orderly distribution of the sandwiches, and then he and Bucky sat together to eat. At their desks. Knees touching.

Bucky said something, put his sandwich down to gesture wildly, and Lorne laughed. Radek had never seen him laugh like that. His entire face lit up, and Radek could see his dimples. He looked beautiful.

Bucky ducked his head, blushing, and Lorne leaned in, said something soft. Nudged Bucky with his elbow, and Bucky smiled.

The culmination of the lunch break was everyone gathering around to witness Radek making his in-game proposal. For effect, he got down on one knee with the video game controller in hand, and Katie agreed to be his ‘bride’, and they both read the dialogue from the speech bubbles on the screen, and Lorne actually broke out some fake champagne for the occasion. There were cheers all around when Radek gave Katie the ‘ring’ (a bent paperclip, courtesy of Nyan and Markham and a pair of pliers), and Radek accepted congratulations facetiously, shaking hands and getting patted on the back.

And then it was back to work for another six hours.

Now that the proposal was done, things heated up over Rock Band and Guitar Hero, people serenading each other and challenging each other. Bucky proved to have an admirable singing voice, as did Nathan. In fact, Nathan had the best voice of all.

“Where did you learn to sing like that?” Radek asked when Nathan sat back down at his desk after a stirring rendition of _I.V._

“Grew up singing opera.”

“Opera?” Radek echoed.

“My mother loved opera. She’d play old records all the time - Puccini, Verdi, Wagner. And I learned to sing along.” Nathan shrugged, addressing yet another Christmas card. He’d been selected to help address the Christmas cards because he had beautiful handwriting, elegant cursive.

“Records?” Radek asked.

Nathan glanced at him. “Yeah. She was kind of old-school.”

“Old-school indeed.” There was a lot about Nathan was old-school.

They worked in silence for half an hour before Katie said, “Okay, I can’t take it anymore. I need to get up and move. Let’s make the dance floor.”

Markham and Stackhouse moved to help her dismantle the projector, screen, and gaming consoles, and then they did the traditional arrangement of accordion files to demarcate the dance floor.

“We need tunes,” Markham said.

Lorne surrendered his iPod without hesitation, and Markham proceeded to connect it to the epic surround sound system that the office had going for it.

Postmodern Jukebox filled the room.

Stackhouse offered his hand to Katie, and the dancing had finally begun.

Four hours. Two more hours to dinner.

Nathan proved a capable dancer, could swing and foxtrot, waltz and twist with the best of them. He never got handsy with anyone he danced with (though Marie got handsy with Radek when they danced), was a perfect gentleman. He accepted dance requests from men and women alike, though he never initiated any dances.

Bucky and Lorne had yet to take the floor. Radek knew everyone was watching, biding their time. Waiting.

Radek had money on them being together.

He also had money on the long, long, long shot that Nathan was sweet on Lorne.

Radek won the first bet when Lorne and Bucky finally took the floor for _Black Hole Sun_. It was a slow, sultry version, and when they stepped onto the floor, they pressed together, shoulder to hip to thigh. Bucky led, because he was taller, one hand on Lorne’s waist, Lorne’s arms around his neck. The way they gazed into each other’s eyes was scorching like the sun all right. It was as if the two of them were the only people in the world.

And it was kind of beautiful.

Radek lifted his head, caught Mehra’s eye. They’d settle the books later, when Lorne and Bucky were long gone.

By the looks of things, they might be slipping away for a long dinner break.

Bucky leaned down and kissed Lorne, and cheers and wolf whistles rose up from the bull pen. Lorne was blushing when they parted, but Bucky was smiling, pleased, and Radek had never really seen him smile. He was beautiful.

Nathan watched the entire scene dispassionately, still as a stone.

“Finally, Lorne’s gonna get laid,” Chuck said.

Bucky smirked and slid his hand into Lorne’s back pocket. “Who says he’s not already getting laid?”

Lorne blushed even brighter, and there was more laughter.

“Someone get a camera,” Lam said. “It’s proof - Lorne’s not a robot!”

And even Lorne laughed.

Radek bit back the urge to mention Battlestar Galactica, in which robots seemed to get laid a lot more often than a lot of the actual humans. Nathan cast him a knowing look, as if he’d read Radek’s mind.

The song ended, and in the ensuing quiet, there was an audible knock at the front door.

At a signal from Lorne, Markham paused the music. Lorne glanced at his watch.

“Dinner delivery’s early.” He started for the front doors.

Radek moved to help him, because even though it was only half past five, he was starving.

Lorne pulled the door open with a smile and a, “You’re early!”

But the man standing in little hallway between the elevator bank and the front doors wasn’t a delivery man. He had no food. He was tall and muscular and blond and incredibly handsome, though.

“I know law firms aren’t usually open on a Saturday, but one of the girls downstairs said sometimes people work on Saturdays,” the man said. “And I was wondering -” He paused, swallowed hard. He was pale and anxious.

“Yes?” Lorne asked, ever polite and solicitous.

“I’m looking for a friend of mine. Heard he might be working here,” the man said. “His name is -”

“Steve?” Bucky pushed past Lorne and Radek, his eyes wide.

“Bucky?” Relief flooded Steve’s face. “I’ve been searching for you -”

“What are you doing here?” Bucky’s tone was immediately hostile, and Lorne, still a soldier, moved to stand between him and Steve.

“Like I said, I’ve been searching -”

“I didn’t want to be found.”

Steve swallowed hard. “Look, what happened, there was a huge misunderstanding. By the time I found out what had happened, you were gone, and no one could tell me where, and -”

“Sir,” Lorne said, calm but warning, “do I need to call security?”

Radek edged up beside Bucky as well. Neither he nor Lorne were particularly tall men, but Lorne was strong, and between him and Radek, they could take this Steve person if they had to, if he upset Bucky this much, Bucky who was pale and shaking.

“Come home, Buck,” Steve said. “Sam and the others miss you.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed. “Sam’s dead.”

Steve shook his head vehemently. “No, that was the misunderstanding. They split us up, took us to different hospitals because only a couple had spots that could treat your and Sam’s injuries, so no one ever told you -”

“They told me he was dead.”

“He coded in the medevac chopper, but he’s alive,” Steve said.

Bucky went very, very still. “Sam’s alive?”

“Yes, he’s alive. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, why I’ve been looking for you.” Steve wet his lips.

Bucky’s hands curled into fists. “He’s really alive?”

“Yes.”

“You better not be fucking with me, Rogers, because I -”

“Bucky, he’s really alive. I promise.”

Bucky staggered. Radek and Lorne both lunged for him, but Steve caught him, held him tightly, steadied him, and then Bucky was sobbing into Steve’s shirt and Steve was stroking his hair and murmuring softly.

Radek glanced at Lorne, whose expression went as unreadable as Nathan’s had earlier, and Radek reached out, caught Lorne’s sleeve, tugged him back into the office, and shut the door behind them.

“Hey, where’s the food?” Nyan asked.

“False alarm,” Lorne said.

Vega said, “Where’s Bucky?”

“Talking to an old friend,” Radek said.

Lorne turned and headed for his desk. The others scattered out of his path.

“What…?” Amelia asked.

There was another knock at the door, and Nathan said, “I’ll get it.”

Radek helped him bring in the delivery - what amounted to a delicious pita bar - and wrangle the distribution of the food.

Radek won his second bet when, after everyone was eating quietly, Bucky didn’t reappear, and didn’t reappear, and Nathan went to bring Lorne a plate of food, pita made just like Lorne liked it.

Radek waited till Monday, when Bucky tendered his official resignation and Lorne and Nathan were out on a courthouse run, to collect his winnings. He never, ever spent them.


End file.
